Religion: The Opium of Education?

Although some anthropologists and philosophers of religion think that religion is man-made; we believe on our part that religion-especially the Christian religion-is God-made. That means Christianity is a revealed religion: God reveals Himself to humanity by becoming man so that the human person may be attracted by what is divine, sacred, pure and perfect. Within the milieu of God's self-manifestation and self-communication, the vocation of the human person is to obey God's call by serving God and one's neighbour. Therefore, religion seen as God-created aims at the human person's complete development and the development of all humankind. It strives to liberate humankind from whatever bondage alienates his/her integral growth. It makes humankind to realize that faith is eminently rational. Religion must struggle to liberate the human person from all forms of oppression and slavery. Religion, according to this logic, is the religion for the people and a good friend of education. "God-created religion" together with education is for service, for wisdom and for freedom. In contrast to "God-created religion", there is "man-made religion"; which is a veritable challenge and danger to our world. It is the religion that encapsulates fundamentalism, the talisman adored by the fanatics. In this "religion", faith is incompatible with reason. That is to say, faith is irrational. Education becomes a threat to this kind of religion. In order to spread freely a constellation of egocentric principles, "man-made religion" has developed a brainwashing strategy of terror and indoctrination. This strategy consists of fighting vigorously against education with the blunt refusal to accept education as the complete development of the human person and the development of all humankind. This "man-made religion" is the opium of the people as well as the opium of education. Such kind of 'religion' is adamantly against education: it propagates, as I said, a religion of terror, violence, and selfishness among other caprice-generated vices. It is this type of religion that corresponds to the truism that "religion is the opium of education".